Sunday, May 16, 2010

Film Noir


Film noir is a cinematic term that we discussed at various times throughout the course. It's a style that came about in the early 1940s until the late 1950s. German expressionists who fled Germany during this tumultuous period played an important part in what was to become Film noir. The entire premise is inspired by the cynicism that was a consequence of the depression and the war. Therefore it is kind of a hard-boiled detective genre, but with some interesting twists that I'll elaborate on further down.

I do believe it's one of the most inventive styles of the time —and it happens to really grab our attention. Like many film genres— even though film noir is not universally considered one— there is a formula that guides it. However, I believe it's not so much a formula as it is simply a number of elements that have to be included, but many of which are only visual in nature. For example, one of the chief characteristics in Film noir is the low-key lighting. It's safe to say that if any filmmaker dared to use low-key lighting, we'd automatically assume at first glance that we were looking at Film noir, aside from everything else.

Key elements in Film Noir:

- Femme fatale
- Good girl
- Doomed protagonist (with a shady past)
- Voice-over narration
- Jazz music
- Everything in focus
- High contrast (Low key lighting / Chiaroscuro)

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